Health Care

The Senate on Thursday shipped to the governor a health care bill that avoids a ballot question redistributing hospital revenues, benefiting hospitals that now receive less insurance compensation.

A deal brokered by Beacon Hill leaders between labor and the hospital industry seeks to avert a contentious hospital pricing disparity ballot question this fall while directing $120 million over five years in financial relief to hospitals across the state.

Harrington his working to expand access to care and patient follow-up among other areas as it battles substance abuse disorder.

Many of the top 100 employers in Central Massachusetts are from the state's biotech industry.

Behavioral Concepts, Inc., an autism assistance provider with a center in Worcester, has made several recent long-term workforce investments in an effort to keep up with increasing demand.

As the Massachusetts population ages, the state's system of long-term services and supports represents both a growing priority in health care and a "looming budget crisis for MassHealth."

SouthCoast Health and Care New England will move forward with a $2 billion affiliation featuring eight hospitals and more than 15,000 employees.

New standards could be a small but significant step in transforming the health care system in Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Senate voted 32 to 2 on Thursday to raise the state's tobacco purchasing age from 18 to 21.

If Massachusetts raises the legal purchasing age to 21, cigarettes and tobacco products will remain "readily available" to those who wish to possess them, but store owners will lose business and possibly shed jobs, according to retailers.